(SEPT 7) It was Benjamin Disraeli who said, "most people die with their music still inside." The English statesman did not have Yvonne Reis in mind; her melodies cascade forth in torrents of fast paced words, phrases and full voiced declarations, backed by the harmony of the flat "a's" and absent "r's" of her native Massachusetts. Reis is never more in tune that when she speaks of her sport, boxing.

I wondered how to tactfully broach the "opponent" issue as I made ready to speak with Reis, ostensibly about her upcoming bout with Hanna Gabriel at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on September 26. Reis has been boxing, professionally, for nearly seven years and has a 7-13-1 record. Gabriel, campaigning for less than two years, has seven wins and one draw.

On it's face, the bout is a quintessential match-up of the up-and-coming fighter against a "tested (a particularly truculent boxing euphemism) veteran boxer. Reis saved me any unease by bringing the issue up in the first minute of our phone conversation, early last week, from Bonnie Canino's Ft. Lauderdale, FL gym. "I'm really looking forward to this bout; for Gabriel it's a chance to step up in competition and for me it's an opportunity to show I'm much more than an ' opponent'. It's one of the few times I've really had a decent amount of lead time for a fight. It'll be fun and a good bout."

A closer examination of Gabriel's unbeaten record indicates that her seven wins have come, essentially, against middle to lower echelon opposition with no bouts outside her native Costa Rica. Reis' bouts, on the other hand, have come, in a global universe, against what can be termed more formidable opposition; an array of talent that, at the time of the Reis bout, boasted an average winning percentage of 75%.

 To put that "stat" in proper perspective, spend just a moment considering the number of fighters in Women's boxing who have compiled "glittering records" against opposition with a winning percentage hovering somewhere between 20 and 40%. You needn't go too far down the list of "unbeatens" to uncover text book examples.

No, Yvonne Reis doesn't see herself as an "opponent," rather she considers herself one or two wins away from "contender" status. And given the proliferation of titles and the quality of some of the recent championship bouts in the sport of Women's boxing, that view is not an illogical one. It's an overused sports phrase, but Yvonne Reis has "paid her dues" in the sport of Women's boxing. And she's done it without the benefit of well heeled promotional support and, certainly, absent any hint of the requisite entourage. Yvonne Reis, like many fighters who form the backbone of the sport today, has earned not only an eminent place in Women's boxing, she has earned the reputation as an "honest" fighter; a boxer who takes the offered fights, who takes the "tough" fights, who shows up, in shape, on time, at weight, ready to compete and a boxer who leaves all her skill and effort in the ring each and every time she answers the bell. All boxers have a certain nobility to them, if only for taking part in the most arduous of sports. A certain percentage of those athletes also have a remarkability about them; they understand the demands of the sport and rather than trying to finesse around those demands, they go forth to meet the formidable hurdles of their sport, head on, each and every time out. Those fighters "get it," they get what competing in boxing, as a professional, is all about. Yvonne Reis gets it.

Reis also gets what it will take to improve her sport in the ever changing landscape of public opinion. "We've got to promote our sport much better and more forcefully than we've been doing and by ' we' I mean the fighters, themselves. There's a lot of talking done in this sport by the boxers, but it's mostly ' trash talking'. And let me be clear, that's all part of the sport, it's part of the one/one confrontation that is at the heart of boxing. Hell, I've done my share in my career. But, when have you heard a fighter talking up the sport, talking up the skill it takes to go ten rounds, at top speed, with another, finely trained, fighter. That's exactly what we need more of, female boxers selling their sport with the type of ' been there/done that' authenticity that only they can bring to the conversation. Female fighters already have a special bond, simply because no matter what their status in the sport, they still face the same subtle discrimination that is aimed uniquely at females who have chosen a sport where they punch each other. That's why it's up to the athletes in our sport to take the lead in selling the sport. Was boxing ever more popular with the public than when Muhammad Ali was talking; talking about himself, sure, but also about his sport? He, alone, raised awareness of himself and boxing like never before. That's what we, the female boxers, have to do. Because based on history, if we don't promote our sport, it doesn't seem like anyone else is going to do it.

Yvonne Reis puts a lot into her sport, mentally and physically. She prepares assiduously for her fights, learning as much about her opponents as possible even when she doesn't have the luxury of a lengthy lead time to a bout. Asked how long she plans on continuing in the ring, Reis replies, "A few years ago, I thought about hanging up the gloves when I was 45 (she's 43), but recently, I realized I'm just starting to figure it (boxing) out, so I may have to extend that deadline by a couple of years. I've always been a competitive person and as long as I remain competitive in the ring, I'll just keep having fun."

And Reis has done a lot more, throughout her career, than just have fun in the ring. She's worked alongside Bonnie Canino to build one of the premier Golden Gloves programs in the country. Yvonne Reis understands commitment and she's committed to competing in one of the most difficult sports, while at the same time helping develop those female boxers who will follow. When she finally does hang up the gloves, it can be fairly assumed that Yvonne Reis will, probably, have shaken that "opponent" label. Will she make it to contender status? That will be determined in the unknowable future, a future that continues on September 26 in the Virgin Islands. But one thing is fairly certain: when she's done competing, Yvonne Reis won't leave anything in the ring, she'll have expended it all before the final bell. And contrary to Mr. Disraeli's opinion, most of Yvonne Reis' music will be on the outside for all to hear, simply because she's unlike "most people". Yvonne Reis gets it.

Bernie McCoy